The Emperor Nerva, because he was a good man, was extremely unpopular with the army, and with the aristocracy, whose wealth was derived from plundering the helpless. Feeling the infirmities of years, and having no children, Nerva looked about him for some available candidate to whom he could transmit the crown. There was a distinguished Roman general, named Trajan, at the head of an army upon the Danube. He was stationed there to resist the barbarians from the north, who were now making frequent inroads into the Roman empire, burning and plundering without mercy. Trajan constructed a bridge across the Danube. The ruins of this stupendous structure of twenty-two arches still remain, testifying to the amazing skill of the Roman engineers. Across this bridge the impetuous general marched his legions, and, constructing a military road for their advance, pursued the barbarians through the wilds of Dacia to the River Dneister, chastising them with terrible severity. The importance of this conquest was deemed so great, that, in commemoration of the event, a magnificent monument was reared in Rome. This world-renowned shaft――the Column of Trajan, a hundred and eighteen feet in height――still stands, one of the most admired works of art in the world. Upon a spiral belt intwined around it were sculptured the principal events of the expedition. Napoleon I. adopted the Column of Trajan as the model of the still more lofty and imposing column raised in the Place Vendôme in honor of the French army. Nerva pronounced Trajan his heir. Hardly had he taken this important step ere he suddenly died, after a reign of but little more than a year. Trajan, who, unopposed, assumed the sceptre, though exceedingly ambitious of military renown, and imposing upon himself no restraints in sensual indulgence, was a very intelligent, and naturally a kind-hearted man. But he could not look with a friendly eye upon the advances which Christianity was making. The teachings of Jesus condemned both his military career and his personal habits. Pliny, called the Younger, was then governor of Pontus, in Asia Minor. There were very many Christians within his realms. Very severe edicts had been issued from Rome against them. It was Pliny’s duty to see these decrees executed. But his philosophic mind and humane spirit recoiled from consigning to torture and to death men, women, and children in whom he could see no crime worthy of punishment. He accordingly wrote to the Emperor Trajan the following letter, which has been transmitted to us by Eusebius:――